


started from the bottom, now we’re here

by nifeandaccurate (12AM)



Series: AELDWS 2014 [1]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Backstory, Gen, M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-02-13 10:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2147604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/12AM/pseuds/nifeandaccurate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has to start somewhere. For Arthur and Eames, that’s stuffed in the back of a mail truck, stealing information the old-fashioned way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	started from the bottom, now we’re here

**Author's Note:**

> Original post can be found here, entry #14: http://inceptiversary.livejournal.com/26263.html
> 
> To chat with me on tumblr, my fic blog's at nifeandaccurate.tumblr.com
> 
> For Round 1, the prompt was "return to sender," with a max word count of 300.

Before the dreamshare world knows them by name, before they start a quiet revolution, there is this.

They’re crammed in the back of a hot mail truck, sifting through the stacks and trying to find the letter from the mark to his mistress. 

“Fucking hell, Arthur, get your elbow out of my side.”

Arthur shoves back. “If you could’ve gotten us into Barkley’s house, we wouldn’t have to be here.”

“Hey, man,” Eames shrugs defensively, “you’ve seen the type of security he has. Anyways,” he coughs, changing the subject, “if we were working with anyone other than Nash, we wouldn’t be reduced to this.”

In a way, Arthur appreciates Eames choosing to talk about their shared hatred for their sleazy coworker because it saves him from having to admit he couldn’t get into the mark’s encrypted email.

Arthur flips through a stack of letters stamped ‘return to sender.’ Beside him, Eames checks his watch and swears quietly.

“Arthur, how much time do we have left before the driver wakes up?”

“There should be twenty minutes left.”

“Wait, should?”

“Come on, we both know Jameson is a hack of a chemist. I only trust his mix to last that long.”

“Fair enough,” Eames sighs. He swings around to face Arthur and says, “One day, we’ll be so much better than this. We’ll work with those posh academics you love so much and people with more money than God.” He looks almost dreamy as he says, “We’ll get there one day, yeah?”

It’s a rhetorical question but Arthur clears his throat and replies, “Yeah.” 

A decade later, they’ll be at the top of the dreamshare community. Eames will turn to Arthur and say, “I told you we’d get here,” and Arthur will roll his eyes and smile.


End file.
